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Cheetah (Priscilla Rich)
History Born into a family of wealth and prosperity, Priscilla Rich was considered one of the "loveliest, sweetest" debutantes. Despite her role as leader of the Junior League Committee, Priscilla was an insecure and reserved young woman suffering from an inferiority complex. During a fundraiser for women and children in Europe, Wonder Woman appeared as a guest of honor. Priscilla Rich was given the duty to introduce Wonder Woman, but the crowd dismissed her, clamoring for the Amazon to appear immediately. After performing a few stunts, Wonder Woman had Priscilla tie her up with chains that she and the Junior League Committee collected from prisons all over the world. Blindfolded, Wonder Woman had no idea Priscilla was using her Magic Lasso to tie her along with the chains. Wonder Woman was placed into a tank of water, and after a struggle, was able to remove her lasso and the chains. Priscilla expressed her concern for Wonder Woman, but the heroine couldn't help but feel suspicious over her. Later, Priscilla went to meet with her friend Courtley Darling, who had planned to take her to dinner. Darling instead decided to go with Wonder Woman to a party at the 400 Club, leaving Priscilla to herself. Alone in her room, Priscilla vented her frustrations about Wonder Woman and Courtley Darling until she saw herself in the mirror, wearing a cheetah costume. Her reflection told her that she's the real Priscilla Rich, and that she shall do what she commands. Priscilla used her cheetah rug to create her costume, declaring herself the Cheetah. During the night, Cheetah went to Courtley Darling's office and stole the money raised at the benefit. Cheetah then found Wonder Woman at the 400 Club and followed her home, planning to murder her. At the last minute, Cheetah decided instead to disgrace her by placing the money she stole under her bed. The next morning, Priscilla called Darling and told him she was worried about the money. He decided to deposit in a bank, as per her requests, and told her to meet him there. At the bank, Priscilla sat patiently until Darling burst through the door, claiming the money had been stolen. The police show up and Priscilla convinces them that Wonder Woman must have done it, as she was the only other person who saw the safe. They attempt to arrest Darling, but Wonder Woman showed up and was arrested instead. Wonder Woman is bailed out of prison and found Cheetah attacking Courtley Darling. By gunpoint, Cheetah led Wonder Woman and Darling into a bin of wheat, which sucked them in like quicksand. Cheetah then began to leave, setting the warehouse they were in on fire. Wonder Woman rushed outside to find Cheetah on the roof. Cheetah, noticing that Wonder Woman survived, fell into the burning building and was thought to have died. However, Priscilla Rich quickly reappeared, encountering Diana Prince in a beauty shop. Cheetah had started to form a group of slave girls on an island, dressed as zebras. Cheetah later posed as a participant in an all-female challenge on Paradise Island, pitting trained female athletes against women who were trained by Amazons. With her superior speed, Cheetah won many of the challenges. However, during one challenge, Cheetah tripped one of the human hurdles, causing her to fall in the way of Paula Von Gunther, her opponent. The hurdle girl told Wonder Woman of Cheetah's actions, but Paula believed Cheetah earned the win and Diana allowed it. Priscilla, enraged that they condescendingly let her have the win, decided she would find the Amazon power source and destroy it. After discovering about Queen Hippolyte's girdle, Cheetah decided to steal it when the Amazons were asleep. With it, she kidnapped Hippolyte and challenged Wonder Woman to a duel. The two women battled, but Wonder Woman eventually loosened the girdle from Cheetah. Cheetah, refusing to admit defeat, dropped a boulder on Hippolyte, but Wonder Woman quickly saved her. The Amazons captured Cheetah and Wonder Woman discovered her identity as Priscilla Rich. She confessed of her multiple personalities, and Wonder Woman decided to keep Priscilla on Reform Island. Before Cheetah was allowed to stay on Reform Island, Wonder Woman gave her the task of releasing her Zebra Girls. When Wonder Woman returned to work as Diana Prince, she discovered that a submarine had gone missing and evidence led to the Cheetah's doing. Diana decided to call Priscilla Rich and see if she was home, which she was, but as they spoke the Cheetah burst into Steve Trevor's office and attacked. She was subdued by Diana Prince, but was able to escape. Wonder Woman chases Cheetah back to the Rich Mansion, where she finds the Cheetah strangling Priscilla Rich. Wonder Woman scares Cheetah off and helps Priscilla, who tells her that the new Cheetah is one of her former slaves, Sandra. Sandra had apparently captured the submarine using the Cheetah guise, since the world knows the Cheetah as Priscilla Rich. When Wonder Woman left, Priscilla returned to her Cheetah costume, finding Sandra and punishing her for scratching her throat during their ruse on the Amazon. It is also revealed that Sandra had been the voice of Priscilla that Diana Prince heard on the phone. Later, Wonder Woman and Etta Candy joined Priscilla Rich on her private yacht in order to search for the missing submarine. Reaching the spot, Etta and Priscilla jumped under water, despite Wonder Woman's protests. Wonder Woman followed, and upon discovering the sub, was blasted by an electric weapon. Cheetah captured Wonder Woman and Etta Candy, threatening Etta's life in order for the heroine to surrender. Wonder Woman agreed to do as Cheetah ordered. First, Cheetah forced Wonder Woman to dance while in chains. She was unable to, which pleased Cheetah. Cheetah then performed her own dance, which astonished everyone including Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman told her that her dancing could attract millions of admirers and make people love her. Suddenly, Priscilla no longer felt jealousy or hatred for Wonder Woman or attractive females, and regained her senses. She tries to steer the submarine up, but crashed. Wonder Woman brought the submarine up herself, and decided to take Priscilla back to Reform Island after all. Despite her attempts at reforming, Priscilla Rich returned to her Cheetah guise several times, often aligning herself with other enemies of Wonder Woman, such as Doctor Psycho, Giganta, and the Duke of Deception. She also joined Villainy Inc., who attempted to overthrow the Amazons and take over Paradise Island. She eventually gave up being the Cheetah, and at one point fell ill. She decided to tell her niece, Deborah Domaine, the secret about her past, but she died before she was able to. Modern Age comics history The original Cheetah, Priscilla Rich, was established as still existing post-Crisis when Queen Hippolyta became the Golden Age Wonder Woman. In the present, she was seen as an elderly woman when she was murdered by Barbara Minerva (the Modern Age Cheetah). It was also established that she had never become an invalid Post-Crisis, as Minerva mentioned how Priscilla had written books condemning her when she became the Cheetah. Rich was murdered in her home by Minerva, under the urging of Zoom. Zoom theorized that if Minerva killed Rich, she would solidify herself as the one true Cheetah and thus be a better villain. DCnU Priscilla Rich has become one of the many aliases that Barbara Minerva used over the years. Other versions .]] Super Friends In the first two issues of the non-continuity ''Super Friends comic book series, Priscilla teamed with a group of other villains (The Penguin, Toyman, Poison Ivy, and Human Flying Fish) to mentor junior criminals. Priscilla's partner was a teenage girl going by the name Kitten. Justice Priscilla also appeared as the Cheetah in Justice, an out-of continuity series that though updated, hearkens back to the Golden Age in its presentation. She was one of the members of the Legion of Doom created by Luthor and Brainiac. Cheetah's role in the story was to eliminate Wonder Woman in a women's conference. She did this by sacrificing two pet cheetahs and shaved their pelts off so she can wear them as the Cheetah. She then asked Persephone for the same poison that is lethal to both Hercules and Wonder Woman: the centaur's blood. She brutally injured Wonder Woman but was taken down at their first confrontation. Cheetah was then assigned to be one of the members to be in charge of the one of the cities that protected that people, the jungle city, where ugly people can be beautiful. Wonder Woman, alongside Flash, Batgirl, Plastic Man, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, they tried to evacuate the people that are now imprisoned in the scorching hot Savannah. Wonder Woman then was challenged by a manic Cheetah to a final showdown, but the angry Wonder Woman doesn't have any more patience with the consistent Cheetah, and takes the villain down finally. Wednesday Comics Priscilla Rich appears as the Cheetah in Ben Caldwell's Wonder Woman, published in Wednesday Comics. She is a member of the Baltimore Riches, a wealthy family. Like Barbara Minerva, Rich was an archeologist, and encounters Wonder Woman on her quest. In the story's final scene, Cheetah claims to have lost the second of nine lives to Dr Poison. She does not explain how she lost her first life, if indeed any of this claim is literal and not a play on her feline nature. The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold Priscilla Rich appears alongside several other villains contracted by Talia al Ghul to interrupt Wonder Woman's marriage to Batman. During the battle, she worked with Catman to battle Vixen and Beast Boy. Cheetah is ultimately defeated with the other villains, and it is revealed Wonder Woman's marriage to Batman had been fake all along. Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman In "The Problem with Cats," a little girl plays with her sister's dolls, one of which is dressed up to look like the Priscilla Rich version of Cheetah. This Cheetah leads Circe and Medusa in battle against Wonder Woman. The Legend of Wonder Woman Priscilla Rich appears in this alternate re-telling of Wonder Woman's origin as an ally of the Nazi Party. She is mentioned as being a supplier for Germany's "extravagant needs." She later presents the Duke of Deception with dynamite, which they use to blow up a mountain in France. In Other Media *She appears in Challenge of the Super Friends and was voiced by Marlene Aragon. She is a prominent member of the Legion of Doom, and Wonder Woman's archenemy. In the episode "Secret Origins of the Super Friends", Cheetah goes back in time and defeats Princess Diana in the contest to become Wonder Woman. *In the "Krazy Kripples" episode of the TV show South Park, the Legion of Doom is spoofed. The Legion has a member that looks like Cheetah. *Cartoon Network periodically spoofs the Super Friends cartoon series in a variety of commercials using the original voice actors. The Priscilla Rich Cheetah can often be seen as a background character. *Priscilla Rich makes a cameo in Justice League: The New Frontier with several other Golden Age enemies in a montage. *Priscilla Rich appears in two episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The first, "Triumvirate of Terror!" featured Cheetah allying herself with Lex Luthor and the Joker in order to battle Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. After many defeats against their archenemies, the trio decided to swap, and Cheetah battled and defeated Superman using her amulet of Urzkartaga. Later, the trio's bickering led to their defeat at their respective nemeses. She later made a cameo alongside several other characters in the series finale, "Mitefall!" *Priscilla Rich appears in the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special, voiced by Clare Grant. *Priscilla Rich appears in several webisodes of DC Super Friends based on the Imaginext toy line. Similar to Challenge of the Super Friends, Cheetah serves as Wonder Woman's primary antagonist. She is voiced by Blaze Berdahl. See also *Cheetah Cheetah 1 __NOWYSIWYG__